Managing digital content via block chain registers

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for managing media, such as digital content, using block chain technology are described. In some example embodiments, the systems and methods provide rights of a digital content item to a user, by transferring digital currency from a parent address node associated with an owner of a digital content item to a child address node associated with a recipient of a right to the digital content item, and recording the transfer of the digital currency from the parent address node to the child address node in a block chain associated with the digital content item.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/155,833, filed on May 1, 2015, entitled MANAGEMENT OF MEDIA USING CLOCK CHAIN SYSTEMS, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/169,263, filed on Jun. 1, 2015, entitled PERFORMING RIGHTS TRANSACTIONS USING BLOCK CHAIN SYSTEMS, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

A block chain is a distributed database that includes and maintains an ever growing list of data records. Being distributed, the block chain is effectively tamper and revision proof. There are many applications for a block chain, including the public ledgers of transactions for cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, namecoin, and so on. For example, the block chain enables decentralized digital currencies, because bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes (e.g., addresses), and recorded in the public, distributed ledgers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments are disclosed in the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a suitable computing environment for performing transactions associated with digital content.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of a content management system.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for managing the use of digital content.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for transferring rights assigned to digital content between entities.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a transfer of rights assigned to digital content between entities.

FIGS. 6A-6B are schematic diagrams illustrating a transfer of digital currency during a rights transaction for digital content.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a creation of a right assigned to digital content.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a transfer of a right assigned to digital content.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cloning of a right assigned to digital content.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a transfer of a right assigned to digital content using rightbase supplementation of a transaction.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for managing content within a social network service.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an example architecture of a computer, which may represent any electronic device, any server, or any node within a cloud service, as described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

The use and distribution of digital content, such as digital documents, images, multimedia, and so on, has historically been difficult to track, control and/or protect by owners of the digital content, especially online. For example, social networks, messaging, micro-blogs, and so on, provide easy mechanisms for users to view, share, and appropriate content provided by others. Content creators and owners, therefore, often face problems when attempting to assert the ownership of their works and, in some cases, license or receive remuneration for the use of their works by others.

Systems and methods for managing media, such as digital content, using block chain technology are described. In some embodiments, the systems and methods provide block chain-based attribution and authentication to creators of media and other digital content. For example, the systems and methods may provide distribution channels for digital content, using social media networks and other networks, smart contract execution environments for regulating usage and payments of fees and royalties for use of digital content, systems for content and/or rights exchange, block chain-based media usage metering, rights transactions and payment completion services, and so on.

In some example embodiments, the systems and methods provide rights of a digital content item to a user, by transferring digital currency from a parent address node associated with an owner of a digital content item to a child address node associated with a recipient of a right to the digital content item, and recording the transfer of the digital currency from the parent address node to the child address node in a block chain associated with the digital content item.

In some example embodiments, the systems and methods provide a public ledger component that generates a block chain of transaction entries for digital content, wherein each of the transaction entries represents a transfer of a right to digital content from a provider of the digital content to a recipient of the digital content, and a transaction component that performs transactions to transfers rights of the digital content from providers to recipients, wherein the performed transactions include transfers of digital currency between bitcoin addresses associated with the providers of the digital content and bitcoin addresses associated with the recipients of the rights to the digit content.

In some example embodiments, the systems and methods provide a content registration engine that is configured to register digital content items received from owners of the digital content items, a transaction engine that is configured to perform bitcoin transactions to generate public ledger entries that represent rights transfers of the digital content items between providers and recipients, and a public ledger engine that is configured to maintain a public ledger of the generated public ledger entries for the registered digital content items.

For example, the systems and methods may manage rights to digital content provided to a social network service by accessing digital content items input to the social network service by a member of the social network service, and registering the accessed digital content items input by the member to the social network service by generating bitcoin addresses that represents rights to the digital content items, and transferring digital currency from a rightbase to the generated bitcoin addresses to create the rights to the digital content items.

The following is a detailed description of exemplary embodiments to illustrate the principles of the invention. The embodiments are provided to illustrate aspects of the invention, but the invention is not limited to any embodiment. The scope of the invention encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications and the equivalent.

Numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, the invention may be practiced according to the claims without some or all of these specific details. For the purpose of clarity, technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the invention has not been described in detail so that the invention is not unnecessarily obscured.

Suitable Computing Environment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a suitable computing environment 100 via which to manage media using block chains. The computing environment 100 includes a content management system 110, which provides an Application Programming Interface (API) service 115 and/or via deployable software (local or cloud-based) configured to enable users, customers, enterprise systems, and so on, to access various different media management functions provided by the content management system 110. For example, a user at a computing device 130 (such as a mobile device, laptop, and so on) may upload, over a network 125 (e.g., the Internet), such as via a mobile application 135, content to an online media host site 140 that supports a website or service that presents content to users.

The online host media site 140 may contain various different scripts or modules, such as a javascript module 145, that facilitate communicating over the network 125 to the content management system 110 (e.g., calling the API 115), in order to access and retrieve certain information associated with the uploaded content, such as rights information, ownership information, licensing or purchasing information, unique identifiers, provenance information, and so on. The content management system 110 may store such information via block-chain technology in various databases or memory, either local to the system or in various cloud-based storage services.

For example, a database 120 may include content information 122 associated with digital content items, such as information describing the digital content items, information representing the content items (e.g., hash values that represent the digital content items), metadata associated with the digital content items, and so on. The database 120 may also include contract data or information 124, such as information associated with rights assigned to the digital content items and/or use of the digital content items, and one or more public ledgers, such as block chains associated with the digital content items that track transactions performed with respect to the digital content items.

Of course, the database 120 may include other types of data or information, such as user information (e.g., information associated with owners or recipients of content), payment information(e.g., information associated with monetary exchanges for content), online host information (e.g., information associated with various online hosts of content, such as host site 140), and so on.

As described herein, the content management system 110 may include various components that perform digital currency transactions in order to establish the transfer of rights of digital content between entities (e.g., between a content owner/provider and a content acquirer/recipient) and generate, create, update, or otherwise maintain public ledgers of the performed transactions, such as distributed public ledgers for the digital content.

Further details regarding the components and methods performed by the content management system 110 are described herein.

Examples of Managing Digital Content Using Block Chain Technology

As described herein, the systems and methods utilize various aspects of block-chain technology to manage the attribution, appropriation, distribution, transfer, and other actions associated with digital media (e.g., text-based content, audio-based content, video-based content, image-based content, and so on) and/or rights to the media (e.g., represented by contracts), such as user-created content that is presented to other users via various different online environments, such as websites, social networks, blogs, micro-blogs, and so on.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of the content management system. 110. The content management system 110 may include one or more modules and/or components to perform operations for managing the use of digital content and/or rights to the use of the digital content. The modules and/or components may be hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software, and may be executed by one or more processors. For example, the content management system 110 may include a content registration module 210, a transaction module 220, and a public ledger module 230.

In some embodiments, the content registration module 210 is configured and/or programmed to register digital content items received from owners of the digital content items. For example, the content registration module 210 may include a content input component that is configured to receive input from the owners of the digital content items, wherein the input includes digital content items provided to an online website (e.g., via mobile application 135 or via host site 140) to be displayed by the online website, and information identifying rights to be assigned to use of the digital content items.

In some embodiments, the transaction module 220 is configured and/or programmed to perform bitcoin or other digital currency transactions to generate public ledger entries that represent rights transfers of the digital content items between providers and recipients. For example, the transaction module 220 may perform a transaction to transfer rights to a digital content item by transferring digital currency from a first node address associated with a current owner of rights to the digital content item to a second node address associated with a recipient of the rights to the digital content item. In some embodiments, the transfer of rights represents and/or activates a contractual clause or usage term(s) within an associate contract for a given piece of media or content.

In some embodiments, the public ledger module 230 is configured and/or programmed to maintain a public ledger of the generated public ledger entries for the registered digital content items. For example, the public ledger module 230 generates a block chain of transaction entries for each registered digital content item, such as a transaction entry representing the transfer of digital currency from a first node address associated with a current owner of rights to the digital content item to a second node address associated with a recipient of the rights to the digital content item.

In some embodiments, the content management system 110 may also include a contract module 240 that is configured and/or programmed to maintain contracts for registered digital content items. For example, the contract module 240 may access digital contracts for digital content items, such as contracts that include information identifying a right type for the digital content items, the node address (e.g., bitcoin address) for the rights assigned to the digital content items, and the owner (e.g., entity) that owns the rights to the digital content items.

In order to maintain the contracts, the contract module 240 may modify, amend, or change digital contracts that define the rights assigned to the digital content items in response to performed bitcoin transactions, wherein the digital contracts include information identifying right types for the rights assigned to the digital content items, information identifying bitcoin addresses associated with the rights assigned to the digital content items, and information identifying owners of the digital content items.

Therefore, the content management system 110 may manage the rights to registered digital content with the public ledger module or component 230, which generates a block chain of transaction entries for digital content, wherein each of the transaction entries represents a transfer of a right to digital content from a provider of the digital content to a recipient of the digital content, and the transaction module or component 220, which performs transactions to transfers rights of the digital content from providers to recipients, wherein the performed transactions include transfers of digital currency between bitcoin (or other digital currency) addresses associated with the providers of the digital content and bitcoin (or other digital currency) addresses associated with the recipients of the rights to the digit content.

As described herein, the content management system performs various methods and processes when tracking creation and ownership of digital content items, such as by utilizing digital currency transactions as representations of rights transfers between entities, and maintaining a list of such transactions as a chain of provenance for the digital content items in public ledgers and other block chains.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 300 for managing the use of digital content. The method 300 may be performed by the content management system 300 and, accordingly, is described herein merely by way of reference thereto. It will be appreciated that the method 300 may be performed on any suitable hardware or devices/components within the content management system 110.

In operation 310, the content management system 110 registers digital content items received from owners of the digital content items (or, in some embodiments, registers placeholders or representations of offline, or non-digital content items). For example, the content registration module 210 may include a content input component that is configured to receive input from the owners of the digital content items, wherein the input includes digital content items provided to an online website (e.g., via mobile application 135 or via host site 140) to be displayed by the online website, and information identifying rights to be assigned to use of the digital content items.

In operation 320, the content management system 320 performs bitcoin (or other digital currency) transactions to generate public ledger entries that represent rights transfers of the digital content items between providers and recipients. For example, the transaction module 220 may perform a transaction to transfer rights to a digital content item by transferring digital currency from a first node address associated with a current owner of rights to the digital content item to a second node address associated with a recipient of the rights to the digital content item.

In operation 330, the content management system 330 maintains a public ledger of the generated public ledger entries for the registered digital content items. For example, the public ledger module 230 generates a block chain of transaction entries for each registered digital content item, such as a transaction entry representing the transfer of digital currency from a first node address associated with a current owner of rights to the digital content item to a second node address associated with a recipient of the rights to the digital content item.

As described herein, the content management system 330 performs various of types of digital currency transactions when establishing, creating, or transferring rights to digital content items for or between entities (e.g., for owners or between owners and recipients).

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 400 for transferring rights assigned to digital content between entities. The method 400 may be performed by the content management system 400 and, accordingly, is described herein merely by way of reference thereto. It will be appreciated that the method 400 may be performed on any suitable hardware or devices/components within the content management system 110.

In operation 410, the content management system 110 registers a digital content item or items received from an owner or provider of the digital content. In some cases, during registration of a digital content item, the content management system 110, via the content registration module 210, may receive input from the owner that includes the digital content item and a description of the right to the digital content item to be provided to recipients, generate a parent, or first, address node as a bitcoin address that represents a right to be assigned to the digital content item or items (and, subsequently provided to recipients), and transfer digital currency from a rightbase, or any other input address controlled and maintained by the content management system 110, to the parent address node to create the right to the digital content item.

In operation 420, the content management system 110 transfers digital currency from a parent address node associated with an owner of a digital content item to a child address node associated with a recipient of a right to the digital content item. The transaction module 220 may perform various different transactions, based on a right type for the right assigned to the digital content item being transferred to the recipient. For example, the transaction module 220 may perform a complete transfer of rights from one entity to another, may provide a clone (or, copy) of rights to one or more entities, and so on.

For example, when performing a transfer of rights from one entity to another, the transaction module 220 receives input from the owner that includes a request to transfer the right to the digital content item to the recipient, generates the child address node as a bitcoin or other digital currency address that represents the recipient, and transfers digital currency from the parent address node to the child address node of the recipient.

As another example, when performing a transfer of a clone (or another instance) of rights to one or more entities, the transaction module 220 transfers digital currency from a rightbase to the parent address node to maintain the right to the digital content item for the owner, receives input from the owner that includes a request to provide a clone of the right to the digital content item to the recipient, and generates the child address node as a bitcoin address that represents the recipient. Thus, the transfer of the digital currency from the parent address node associated with the owner of the digital content item to the child address node associated with the recipient of the right to the digital content item provides the recipient with the clone of the right to the digital content item.

In order to avoid possible “double spending” of the digital currency associated with node addresses (where an address node performs multiple digital currency transfers to different entities, introducing uncertainty to the tracked provenance of digital content), the transaction module 220, during performed transactions, transfers an entire digital currency balance associated with a parent address node to the child address node.

Also, when performing digital currency transfers between address nodes, the transaction module 220 may attach data to one or more zero value outputs (e.g., OP_RETURN in bitcoin) provided by the scripting system during digital currency transactions. For example, the transaction module 220 may associate data to the transfer of the digital currency that includes information identifying a type of the right to the digital content item provided to the recipient and information associated with a digital contract that contains a description of the right to the digital content item provided to the recipient. Thus, the transaction record associated with the transaction may include, in addition to information identifying the transferring and receiving node addresses, data identifying the type of right and the contract representing the right to the digital content item.

In operation 430, the content management system 110 records the transfer of the digital currency from the parent address node to the child address node in a block chain associated with the digital content item. For example, the public ledger module 230 generates or updates a block chain of transaction entries for the digital content item, such as with a transaction entry representing the transfer of digital currency from the parent node address to the child node address.

For example, Table 1 is an example of a public ledger that tracks digital currency transfers as rights transactions for a digital content item:

TABLE 1 Date Transaction Jan. 1, 2015 29b33fc07a0192e9c1d50da2850f36bca946a8f047bf743719a62207ab85586b Jan. 15, 2015 2850f36bca946a8f047bf743719a62207ab85586b29b33fc07a0192e9c1d50da Mar. 20, 2015 b0886fd9cf0322b0d6910040cbcf158c7bdd538952dd7a5a01bd892f8de6b6c8 . . . . . .

As shown in Table 1, the transaction “29b33fc07a0192e9c1d50da2850f36bca946a8f047bf743719a62207ab85586b” represents an initial creation of rights for a newly registered digital content item, while transaction “2850f36bca946a8f047bf743719a62207ab85586b29b33fc07a0192e9c1d5Oda” represents a transfer of the rights to a second entity.

Following the example, Table 2 is an example of details associated with a currency transfer, such as the transaction that occurred on 01-01-2015:

TABLE 2 Transferring Entity Receiving Entity Contract 1EwBV346uW9cGrzsZfFkdZfN3jNAhwG5Cr 1GrgYzJMSgbLUtXRBQsViYrmod1FxgYsjp Contract_2

As shown in Table 2, the transaction details include the node address for the transferring entity, or former owner of the rights to the digital content item, the node address for the receiving entity, or new owner of the rights to the digital content item, and information identifying the contract that defines and/or represents the rights to the digital content item. Of course, Table 1 and Table 2 may include more or different information than what is depicted, such as information associated with the transaction, information associated with the digital content item, and so on.

Thus, the content management system 110 tracks the provenance of digital content items via a recordation of digital currency transactions between node addresses representing transferring and receiving entities on public ledgers.

Examples of Digital Currency Transactions as Rights Transfers

As described herein, the content management system 110 utilizes digital currency transfers to validate and represent rights transfers between entities for digital content items. What follows are details regarding these digital currency transactions, and how they map to the transfers of rights between entities.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram 500 illustrating a transfer of rights assigned to digital content between entities. A first transaction 510 associated with a contract 505 (e.g., “contract_0”) occurs when a common assignor entity (“monegraph”, or the content management system 110) assigns the rights of a work (“right_1”) to an entity (“entity_0”), such as a creator of a work newly registered to the content management system 110, while maintaining original rights (“right_0”) to the work.

A rights transfer transaction 520 occurs when the assignor (entity_0) assigns the rights (right_1) represented by an updated contract (“contract_1”) to a recipient entity (“entity_1”). A subsequent rights transfer transaction 530 occurs when the current owner of the rights to the work, “entity_1,” assigns the rights (right_1) represented by an updated contract (“contract_2”) to a second recipient entity (“entity_2”).

FIGS. 6A-6B are schematic diagrams illustrating a transfer of digital currency during a rights transaction (e.g., transactions 510, 520, and/or 530) for digital content. For example, FIG. 6A depicts a directed graph relationship where a parent node 605 asserts a relationship to a child node 610 by sending, or transferring, digital currency to the child node. For example, a transaction 620 occurs when the parent address node 605 transfers μ satoshi (or, some other small amount of digital currency) to the child address node 610. The transaction 620 also associates certain data/information (e.g., right type information, hash value representing a contract) to the transaction 620 via a zero value output (e.g., OP_RETURN 625).

As another example, FIG. 6B depicts a directed graph relationship where a parent node 605 asserts a relationship to multiple child nodes (e.g., node 610 and node 630) by sending, or transferring, digital currency to the child node. For example, a transaction 640 occurs when the parent address node 605 transfers p satoshi (or, some other small amount of digital currency) to the child address node 610 and the child address node 630. The transaction 640 also associates certain data/information (e.g., right type information, hash value representing a contract) to the transaction 620 via a zero value output (e.g., OP_RETURN 625).

The content management system 110 may implement and/or follow certain rules or controls when performing transactions between nodes that represent entities. The content management system 110 controls an input address(e.g., “rightbase”), of which all transactions are based or derived. Rightbase may be, for example, a coinbase for rights, and serve to establish an initial right or rights by providing an initial address from which one or more transactions originate. The content management system 110, therefore creates a right for a digital content item (e.g., when the digital content item is registered into the system 110) by transferring p satoshi from the rightbase to an address, now called a “right-address.”

In some embodiments, therefore, right or rights transactions may only include “right-addresses” or rightbase as input addresses, and “right-addresses” or rightbase as output addresses. As described herein, when a right transaction occurs, all input addresses (except rightbase) may spend their entire unspent balance of digital curency. By causing all transactions to completely spend associated digital currency, the content management system 110 may prevent double spends on rights (where no change is given to a right-address (only rightbase can receive change).

In some embodiments, “satoshi pollution” may occur, where funds are transferred to a right-address that are non-rights related. The content management system 110 may mitigate such occurrences by generating right-addresses concurrently to when a right is transferred to an entity, and by transferring an entire balance associated with the right-address.

As described herein, a right transaction includes an OP_RETURN or other zero sum output, which includes an identification of the type of right being transferred, combined with a hash of a digital contract that describes the right. Therefore, the proof-of-existence for a right may be defined by a node address that has: (1) an unspent balance, and that is associated with transactions that contain an OP_RETURN output that includes a right type identifier and a hash value representing a digital contractual document that describes the right (e.g., an open digital rights language, or ODRL, document). Thus, transactions for a “right-address” may be traced back to a transaction initiated by rightbase.

When a digital content item is registered with the content management system 110, the system 110 creates a bitcoin or other node address to represent a contract that defines the right assigned to the digital content item, and a node address for every right to be established and assigned to the digital content item. These are called “created rights.” Once created, the content management system 110 transfers, for example, p satoshi from rightbase to each of the created rights addresses, along with data attached via an OP_RETURN output.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a creation of a right assigned to digital content. Transaction 710 occurs when rightbase 705 transfers p satoshi to a first created right address 715 (“right_0_for_entity_0”), and transaction 720 occurs when rightbase 705 transfers p satoshi to a second created right address 725. Thus, for an associated digital content item, the content management system 110 performs transactions 710 and 720 to create rights 715 and 725, respectively.

When entity_0 wishes to transfer their right to a digital content item to entity_1, the content management system 110 creates a node address to hold and maintain the right for entity_1. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a transfer of a right assigned to digital content. A transaction 810 occurs where an entire unspent balance of p satoshi transfers from a node address 820 (e.g., “right_1_for_entity_0”) of a current right holder to a node address 830 (e.g., “right_1_for_entity_1”) of a new right holder, along with data attached via an OP_RETURN output.

In some embodiments, contractual models may be associated with cloning or duplicating an existing right to a digital content item, wherein an assignee entity is granted a “usage right,” while the assignor entity also retains a usage right and control of other usage rights. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cloning of a right assigned to digital content. The content management system 110 creates a new address for the newly assigned right (the cloned right), and performs a transaction 905 where both the original right address 910 (e.g., “usage_right_for_entity_0”) and rightbase 920 transfer p satoshi to the original right address 910 and the new address 930 (e.g., “usage_right_for_entity_1”), along with data attached via an OP_RETURN output

In some embodiments, mining fees associated with mining digital currency may cause unspent balances associated with right-addresses to fall below a minimum transaction amount (e.g., ˜5000 satoshi) and/or applied transaction fees (e.g., ˜10,000 satoshi). During such occurrences, the content management system 110 performs a transaction 1005 where both the original right address 1010 (e.g., “right_for_entity_0”) and rightbase 1020 transfer p satoshi to the new right address (e.g., “right_0_for_entity_1”).

In other words, the content management system 110, via the transaction module 220, may determine that an amount of digital currency associated with the parent address node is below a threshold minimum transaction amount, and transfer digital currency from a rightbase to the child address node associated with the recipient of the right to the digital content item.

In some embodiments, the content management system 110 may provide a mechanism for a right holding entity to lease rights to a digital content item. For example, an entity may lease their right to sell royalty free usage for a work to another entity for one year, and after the year, claim the right to sell royalty free usage from the lease, where the lease is no longer able to sell royalty free usage for the work.

Using the “lock time” mechanism for digital currency, the content management system 110 generates two transactions, a first transaction where the right is transferred from the leaser to the lease, and a second transaction, having a set lock time of one year, wherein the right is transferred back to the leaser.

Example Implementations of Block Chain Based Content Management

As described herein, the content management system 110 may provide content management for a variety of different online environments, such as social network services (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn, and so on), micro-blogs (e.g., Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram), blogs, e-commerce sites, and other environments that support the creation, introduction, sharing, and consumption of content.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 1100 for managing content within a social network service. The method 1100 may be performed by the content management system 1100 and, accordingly, is described herein merely by way of reference thereto. It will be appreciated that the method 1100 may be performed on any suitable hardware or devices/components within the content management system 110.

In operation 1110, the content management system 1110 accesses digital content items input to the social network service by a member of the social network service. For example, the content management system 1110 may access photos and videos uploaded to a member profile for a member of the social network.

The content management system 110 registers the accessed digital content items input by the member to the social network service by, in operation 1120, generating bitcoin addresses that represents rights to the digital content items, and, in operation 1130, transferring digital currency from a rightbase controlled by the content management system 110 to the generated bitcoin addresses to create the rights to the digital content items. Thus, the content management system 110 may register and assign rights to digital content provided to the social network service.

In operation 1140, the content management system 110, receives an indication that another member of the social network service is authorized to perform an action associated with the digital content items within the social network service. For example, the other member may be authorized (implicitly or explicitly), to share or modify the digital content items within other areas of the social network service. The content management system 110, in operation 1150 transfers digital currency from the generated bitcoin addresses to recipient bitcoin addresses associated the other member of the social network service, and records the transfer of the digital currency in a block chain associated with the digital content items.

Thus, in some embodiments, the content management system 110 enables social networks and other online environments that present and enable the use of content to track the use of the content by all members, among other benefits.

FIG. 12 illustrates a high-level block diagram showing an example architecture of a computer 1200, which may represent any electronic device, such as a mobile device or a server, including any node within a cloud service as described herein, and which may implement the operations described above. The computer 200 includes one or more processors 1210 and memory 1220 coupled to an interconnect 1230. The interconnect 1230 may be an abstraction that represents any one or more separate physical buses, point to point connections, or both connected by appropriate bridges, adapters, or controllers. The interconnect 1230, therefore, may include, for example, a system bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or PCI-Express bus, a HyperTransport or industry standard architecture (ISA) bus, a small computer system interface (SCSI) bus, a universal serial bus (USB), IIC (I2C) bus, or an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 1394 bus, also called “Firewire”.

The processor(s) 1210 is/are the central processing unit (CPU) of the computer 1200 and, thus, control the overall operation of the computer 1200. In certain embodiments, the processor(s) 1210 accomplish this by executing software or firmware stored in memory 1220. The processor(s) 1210 may be, or may include, one or more programmable general-purpose or special-purpose microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), programmable controllers, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), trusted platform modules (TPMs), or a combination of such or similar devices.

The memory 1220 is or includes the main memory of the computer 1200. The memory 1220 represents any form of random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, or the like, or a combination of such devices. In use, the memory 1220 may contain code 1270 containing instructions according to the techniques disclosed herein.

Also connected to the processor(s) 1210 through the interconnect 1230 are a network adapter 1240 and a mass storage device 1250. The network adapter 1240 provides the computer 1200 with the ability to communicate with remote devices over a network and may be, for example, an Ethernet adapter. The network adapter 1240 may also provide the computer 1200 with the ability to communicate with other computers.

The code 1270 stored in memory 1220 may be implemented as software and/or firmware to program the processor(s) 1210 to carry out actions described above. In certain embodiments, such software or firmware may be initially provided to the computer 1200 by downloading it from a remote system through the computer 1200 (e.g., via network adapter 1240).

Conclusion

The techniques introduced herein can be implemented by, for example, programmable circuitry (e.g., one or more microprocessors) programmed with software and/or firmware, or entirely in special-purpose hardwired circuitry, or in a combination of such forms. Software or firmware for use in implementing the techniques introduced here may be stored on a machine-readable storage medium and may be executed by one or more general-purpose or special-purpose programmable microprocessors.

In addition to the above mentioned examples, various other modifications and alterations of the invention may be made without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure is not to be considered as limiting, and the appended claims are to be interpreted as encompassing the true spirit and the entire scope of the invention.

The various embodiments are described above with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

A “machine-readable storage medium”, as the term is used herein, includes any mechanism that can store information in a form accessible by a machine (a machine may be, for example, a computer, network device, cellular phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), manufacturing tool, any device with one or more processors, etc.). For example, a machine-accessible storage medium includes recordable/non-recordable media (e.g., read-only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; etc.), etc.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an object of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatuses, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The aforementioned flowchart and diagrams illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

Although various features of the invention may be described in the context of a single embodiment, the features may also be provided separately or in any suitable combination. Conversely, although the invention may be described herein in the context of separate embodiments for clarity, the invention may also be implemented in a single embodiment.

Reference in the specification to “some embodiments”, “an embodiment”, “one embodiment” or “other embodiments” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least some embodiments, but not necessarily all embodiments, of the inventions.

It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is not to be construed as limiting and are for descriptive purpose only.

It is to be understood that the details set forth herein do not construe a limitation to an application of the invention.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out or practiced in various ways and that the invention can be implemented in embodiments other than the ones outlined in the description above.

It is to be understood that the terms “including”, “comprising”, “consisting” and grammatical variants thereof do not preclude the addition of one or more components, features, steps, or integers or groups thereof and that the terms are to be construed as specifying components, features, steps or integers. 

We claim:
 1. A system for managing the use of digital content, the system comprising: a content registration module that is configured to register digital content items received from owners of the digital content items; a transaction module that is configured to perform bitcoin transactions to generate public ledger entries that represent rights transfers of the digital content items between providers and recipients; and a public ledger module that is configured to maintain a public ledger of the generated public ledger entries for the registered digital content items.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a contract module that is configured to modify digital contracts that define the rights assigned to the digital content items in response to performed bitcoin transactions, wherein the digital contracts include information identifying right types for the rights assigned to the digital content items, information identifying bitcoin addresses associated with the rights assigned to the digital content items, and information identifying owners of the digital content items.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the content registration module includes a content input component that is configured to receive input from the owners of the digital content items, wherein the input includes digital content items provided to an online website to be displayed by the online website and information identifying rights to be assigned to use of the digital content items.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the content registration module registers digital content items received from owners by: receiving input from an owner that includes the digital content item and a description of the right to the digital content item to be provided to recipients; generating a bitcoin address that represents the right to be provided to the recipients; and transferring digital currency from a rightbase to the bitcoin address to create the right to the digital content item.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the transaction module generates public ledger entries for digital content items by: transferring digital currency from a parent address node associated with an owner of a digital content item to a child address node associated with a recipient of a right to the digital content item.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the transaction module generates public ledger entries for digital content items by: transferring digital currency from a parent address node associated with an owner of a digital content item to a child address node associated with a recipient of a right to the digital content item; and associating data to the transfer of the digital currency that includes information identifying a type of the right to the digital content item provided to the recipient and information associated with a digital contract that contains a description of the right to the digital content item provided to the recipient.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the transaction module generates public ledger entries for digital content items by: transferring an entire balance of digital currency from a parent address node associated with an owner of a digital content item to a child address node associated with a recipient of a right to the digital content item.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the public ledger module generates a block chain of transaction entries for each registered digital content item.
 9. A method, comprising: registering digital content items received from owners of the digital content items; performing bitcoin transactions to generate public ledger entries that represent rights transfers of the digital content items between providers and recipients; and maintaining a public ledger of the generated public ledger entries for the registered digital content items.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: modifying digital contracts that define the rights assigned to the digital content items in response to performed bitcoin transactions, wherein the digital contracts include information identifying right types for the rights assigned to the digital content items, information identifying bitcoin addresses associated with the rights assigned to the digital content items, and information identifying owners of the digital content items.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein registering digital content items received from owners of the digital content items includes receiving input from the owners of the digital content items, wherein the input includes digital content items provided to an online website to be displayed by the online website and information identifying rights to be assigned to use of the digital content items.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein registering digital content items received from owners of the digital content items includes: receiving input from an owner that includes the digital content item and a description of the right to the digital content item to be provided to recipients; generating a bitcoin address that represents the right to be provided to the recipients; and transferring digital currency from a rightbase to the bitcoin address to create the right to the digital content item.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein performing bitcoin transactions to generate public ledger entries that represent rights transfers of the digital content items between providers and recipients includes transferring digital currency from a parent address node associated with an owner of a digital content item to a child address node associated with a recipient of a right to the digital content item.
 14. The method of claim 9, wherein performing bitcoin transactions to generate public ledger entries that represent rights transfers of the digital content items between providers and recipients includes: transferring digital currency from a parent address node associated with an owner of a digital content item to a child address node associated with a recipient of a right to the digital content item; and associating data to the transfer of the digital currency that includes information identifying a type of the right to the digital content item provided to the recipient and information associated with a digital contract that contains a description of the right to the digital content item provided to the recipient.
 15. The method of claim 9, wherein performing bitcoin transactions to generate public ledger entries that represent rights transfers of the digital content items between providers and recipients includes: transferring an entire balance of digital currency from a parent address node associated with an owner of a digital content item to a child address node associated with a recipient of a right to the digital content item.
 16. The method of claim 9, wherein maintaining a public ledger of the generated public ledger entries for the registered digital content items includes generating a block chain of transaction entries for each registered digital content item.
 17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform a method for managing rights to digital content provided to a social network service, the method comprising: access digital content items input to the social network service by a member of the social network service; and registering the accessed digital content items input by the member to the social network service by: generating bitcoin addresses that represents rights to the digital content items; and transferring digital currency from a rightbase to the generated bitcoin addresses to create the rights to the digital content items.
 18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising: receiving an indication that another member of the social network service is authorized to perform an action associated with the digital content items within the social network service; transferring digital currency from the generated bitcoin addresses to recipient bitcoin addresses associated the another member of the social network service; and recording the transfer of the digital currency in a block chain associated with the digital content items. 